Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the attempts to limit its spread have resulted in profound economic impacts, and a significant contraction in the global economy is expected. This paper provides some of the first evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of and responses to the pandemic among households and individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. To do so, reduced-form econometric methods are applied to longitudinal household survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda -- originating from the pre-COVID-19 face-to-face household surveys and from the novel phone surveys that are being implemented during the pandemic. The headline findings are fourfold. First, although false beliefs about COVID-19 remain prevalent, government action to limit the spread of the disease is associated with greater individual knowledge of the disease and increased uptake of precautionary measures. Second, 256 million individuals -- 77 percent of the population in the four countries -- are estimated to live in households that have lost income due to the pandemic. Third, attempts to cope with this loss are exacerbated by the inability to access medicine and staple foods among 20 to 25 percent of the households in each country, and food insecurity is disproportionately borne by households that were already impoverished prior to the pandemic. Fourth, student-teacher contact has dropped from a pre-COVID-19 rate of 96 percent to just 17 percent among households with school-age children. These findings can help inform decisions by governments and international organizations on measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal the need for continued monitoring.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Josephson, Anna, Kilic, Talip, Michler, Jeffrey D.
Format: Working Paper biblioteca
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2020-11
Subjects:CORONAVIRUS, COVID-19, PANDEMIC IMPACT, SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT, POVERTY, INCOME LOSS, ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES, FOOD SECURITY, ACCESS TO EDUCATION,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/955251604433596591/Socioeconomic-Impacts-of-COVID-19-in-Four-African-Countries
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/34733
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spelling dig-okr-10986347332024-07-28T05:57:51Z Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries Josephson, Anna Kilic, Talip Michler, Jeffrey D. CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 PANDEMIC IMPACT SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT POVERTY INCOME LOSS ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES FOOD SECURITY ACCESS TO EDUCATION The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the attempts to limit its spread have resulted in profound economic impacts, and a significant contraction in the global economy is expected. This paper provides some of the first evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of and responses to the pandemic among households and individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. To do so, reduced-form econometric methods are applied to longitudinal household survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda -- originating from the pre-COVID-19 face-to-face household surveys and from the novel phone surveys that are being implemented during the pandemic. The headline findings are fourfold. First, although false beliefs about COVID-19 remain prevalent, government action to limit the spread of the disease is associated with greater individual knowledge of the disease and increased uptake of precautionary measures. Second, 256 million individuals -- 77 percent of the population in the four countries -- are estimated to live in households that have lost income due to the pandemic. Third, attempts to cope with this loss are exacerbated by the inability to access medicine and staple foods among 20 to 25 percent of the households in each country, and food insecurity is disproportionately borne by households that were already impoverished prior to the pandemic. Fourth, student-teacher contact has dropped from a pre-COVID-19 rate of 96 percent to just 17 percent among households with school-age children. These findings can help inform decisions by governments and international organizations on measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal the need for continued monitoring. 2020-11-05T15:54:07Z 2020-11-05T15:54:07Z 2020-11 Working Paper Document de travail Documento de trabajo http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/955251604433596591/Socioeconomic-Impacts-of-COVID-19-in-Four-African-Countries https://hdl.handle.net/10986/34733 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9466 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank application/pdf text/plain World Bank, Washington, DC
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libraryname Biblioteca del Banco Mundial
language English
topic CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT
POVERTY
INCOME LOSS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
FOOD SECURITY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT
POVERTY
INCOME LOSS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
FOOD SECURITY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
spellingShingle CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT
POVERTY
INCOME LOSS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
FOOD SECURITY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT
POVERTY
INCOME LOSS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
FOOD SECURITY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Josephson, Anna
Kilic, Talip
Michler, Jeffrey D.
Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries
description The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the attempts to limit its spread have resulted in profound economic impacts, and a significant contraction in the global economy is expected. This paper provides some of the first evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of and responses to the pandemic among households and individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. To do so, reduced-form econometric methods are applied to longitudinal household survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda -- originating from the pre-COVID-19 face-to-face household surveys and from the novel phone surveys that are being implemented during the pandemic. The headline findings are fourfold. First, although false beliefs about COVID-19 remain prevalent, government action to limit the spread of the disease is associated with greater individual knowledge of the disease and increased uptake of precautionary measures. Second, 256 million individuals -- 77 percent of the population in the four countries -- are estimated to live in households that have lost income due to the pandemic. Third, attempts to cope with this loss are exacerbated by the inability to access medicine and staple foods among 20 to 25 percent of the households in each country, and food insecurity is disproportionately borne by households that were already impoverished prior to the pandemic. Fourth, student-teacher contact has dropped from a pre-COVID-19 rate of 96 percent to just 17 percent among households with school-age children. These findings can help inform decisions by governments and international organizations on measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal the need for continued monitoring.
format Working Paper
topic_facet CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19
PANDEMIC IMPACT
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT
POVERTY
INCOME LOSS
ACCESS TO BASIC SERVICES
FOOD SECURITY
ACCESS TO EDUCATION
author Josephson, Anna
Kilic, Talip
Michler, Jeffrey D.
author_facet Josephson, Anna
Kilic, Talip
Michler, Jeffrey D.
author_sort Josephson, Anna
title Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries
title_short Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries
title_full Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries
title_fullStr Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries
title_full_unstemmed Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 in Four African Countries
title_sort socioeconomic impacts of covid-19 in four african countries
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2020-11
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/955251604433596591/Socioeconomic-Impacts-of-COVID-19-in-Four-African-Countries
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/34733
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AT kilictalip socioeconomicimpactsofcovid19infourafricancountries
AT michlerjeffreyd socioeconomicimpactsofcovid19infourafricancountries
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